Valley of Hope: Moyar and Vultures

Valley of Hope is the author's debut, a first-person account of walking the Moyar Valley in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve in search of vulture nests. It follows the fieldwork of surveying and conservation across South Indian jungle, and builds, chapter by chapter, into an argument for why vultures matter far more than their reputation suggests.

Vultures are nature's clean-up crew: by consuming carcasses quickly they slow the spread of disease and keep ecosystems in balance. Across much of India their populations collapsed within a generation. Valley of Hope takes the reader into the landscape where a small breeding population still holds on, and makes the case for protecting it.

The book is illustrated with monochrome photographs throughout and a section of colour plates at the end, a record of the valley and its birds gathered over years of survey work.

The near-extinction of India's vultures is one of the fastest declines of any bird group on record, with consequences that ripple through public health and rural life. By grounding that story in one valley and one researcher's search, Valley of Hope makes an abstract crisis tangible, and offers, as its title promises, a reason for optimism.

Readers have praised the book's photographs and the assurance of its writing, noting that it reads nothing like a debut.